Pawpaw (Papaya) Scones

I spent last post bemoaning the lack of interesting winter fruit, completely forgetting about one of my favourite tropical fruit – the pawpaw or papaya, which is at its peak in winter. In Australia we tend to describe the larger yellow fruit as pawpaw, and the smaller orange-pink fruit (pictured below) as papaya.

papaya

puree

papaya, flour, butter

I generally eat them as is, or occasionally in smoothies, but years ago I came across a recipe for using them in scones, and though it would be an interesting variation to try. As you can see the puree is a fabulous orange-pink, and the scones themselves, while more muted, are still a lovely pale orange.

The flavour isn’t particularly strong in the finished product, but they are light and moist, and sticking with the tropical theme, I served them with a lovely kiwifruit jam made by my sister with her own fruit. They could also very easily be made completely dairy-free as there is relatively little milk or butter.

350ml pureed* pawpaw or papaya (approx a 500g piece before peeling and seeding)

50g melted butter

2 Tbs milk

Preheat oven to 200C. Whisk together flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and stir in the pawpaw puree, butter and milk. Gently fold together to form a soft dough.

Pat out to about 2cm thick on a lightly floured surface, and cut into rounds or squares – it will make 12-16 depending on size and shape. Evenly space, not quite touching, on a lined baking tray, and bake for 15 -20 minutes until lightly golden and well risen. If you’re not sure if they’re cooked, try pulling a centre one apart and make sure there is no hint of doughiness in the centre.

Serve warm with jam – kiwifruit jam would be perfect, but berry jam is also lovely.

* I used a stick blender directly in the Pyrex jug, but you could also puree in a blender, or even mash with a fork in a pinch.